Convicted robber gets life in prison for Boyett’s Grove shooting

BROOKSVILLE –
After passing up a plea in exchange for a 15-year prison sentence, the third suspect in the attempted murder and robbery of a local roadside attraction owner received a life sentence Tuesday.

Adrian House, 27, stood trial for a total of six hours. The six-panel jury deliberated for 30 minutes before convicting him on two counts of principle to robbery with a firearm. Circuit Judge Jack Springstead sentenced him immediately following the trial.

House is one of three culprits in the April 2007 robbery at Boyett’s Grove, a citrus and animal attraction along Spring Lake Highway.

Damion Childs and Willie Cliatt III were the other suspects.

Childs, 26, who was serving a life sentence after being convicted of another crime in another county, agreed to a plea deal in December 2009 and was sentenced to 25 years.

Cliatt, 22, was killed in August 2007 during a police-involved shooting in Orlando.

Jim and Kathy Oleson, owners of Boyett’s Grove testified for the prosecution Tuesday.

Kathy Oleson was robbed at gunpoint and dragged through the store by Childs, according to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.

She called out to her husband, who was shot in the chest and seriously wounded. Jim Oleson was kept in intensive care for weeks.

Prosecutor Don Barbee said the 15-year prison sentence offer was made, in large part, to spare the Olesons from “the emotional toll of a jury trial.”

Because of House’s criminal past, he was eligible to be declared a prisoner rerelease offender. Such an offender can be sentenced to life in prison after he commits a serious felony, like robbery, within three years of his release.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or [email protected].